Students return with desire to help other people around the globe

Recently Returned from Sri Lanka where they participated in the Girl Ambassadors for Human Rights program are (from left) Caroline Charles, Sally Roesch Wagner and Leah Miller, standing in the Haudenosaunee room at the Gage House Museum in Fayetteville.Mike Greenlar/The Post-Standard

By Ken Sturtz
Contributing writer

Two Central New York high school students recently traveled to Sri Lanka with Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation Director Sally Roesch Wagner for a Girl Ambassadors for Human Rights program.

The weeklong visit was made possible in part through a grant by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the American Alliance of Museums.

The program brings together young women from Villa Grimaldi Museum in Chile, the Institute of Social Development in Sri Lanka and the Gage Foundation in Fayetteville to explore and share ideas on women’s history and roles in social change through dialogue, social media and travel.

For Leah Miller, a junior at Manlius Pebble Hill, and Caroline Charles, a junior at Jamesville-DeWitt High School, the trip to Sri Lanka was life changing, they said.

“I was so excited, I started crying,” Miller said, talking about when she found out she was selected for the program.

Before they flew to Sri Lanka in early December, the two girls joined about 20 other young women locally for a series of dialogues and video chats with women in Chile and Sri Lanka. Although they often noticed the similarities they had in common with the women from the other countries, they were confronted with many differences when they arrived in Sri Lanka, a small island nation off the southern coast of India that’s home to about 21.5 million people.

“They don’t put the workers first at all,” Charles said.

Charles said that beyond the poor, windy roads and the spicy food, there were noticeable cultural differences especially concerning women’s equality. Specifically, women who work on massive tea plantations in Sri Lanka often labor in the heat for long hours, only to be shorted pay or not paid at all. The conditions were surprisingly terrible, Charles said, noting even pregnant women working on plantations sometimes didn’t get proper care.

“I’m a lot more grateful for the things I have,” Charles said. “Also you realize that there’s a bigger world.”

Miller said the trip taught her to appreciate things.

The pair spent a large part of the trip getting to know their counterparts in Sri Lanka, which Miller said helped them understand many of the cultural differences.

For example, women tend not to stand up for themselves in Sri Lanka, Miller said. Consequently, if a man claims he was sexually assaulted, action is usually taken. But women rarely make such complaints and are often brushed aside by the police. Sexual harassment of women on the streets is a common problem too, Miller said.

Many of the group discussions focused on cultural differences and how to push for more equality for women.

“I think what they need to do is stand up for themselves,” Miller said.

Both women said the trip fired them up about women’s issues and working for equality for women in other cultures. But they still found time to take in the scenery and enjoy touring plantations, waterfalls and jungle.

“It was very different,” Miller said. “There was a lot of wildlife everywhere which was cool. It was just so different.”

“It was beautiful,” Charles said.

Both said they hope to work to help women struggling for equality in the future.

“I’ve always wanted to study music,” Charles said. “But I want to find a way that I can help other people around the world.”